Interior Secretary Oscar W. Chapman got one of the warmest welcomes ever extended a friend of Hawaii when he landed here today on his first visit.

A strong advocate of self-government for the territory, Mr. Chapman said he's sorry he couldn't fulfill a long standing promise to visit Hawaii as a state.

He had once said he would not come here till statehood had been achieved.

“;I hope my next visit will be very soon and that this territory will then be a state,”; he said on his arrival.

“;It's quite possible. Prospects are good,”; the secretary said in answer to a question on whether statehood will come next year.

SENATE DANGER SPOT

He says he foresees no trouble getting the statehood bill through the House of Representatives. The danger, he added, is in the Senate.

On the upper house treatment of statehood legislation, he said he refuses to predict.

Mr. Chapman says both Hawaii and Alaska should become states.

Divorcing the two drives in Congress would not hasten statehood for either territory, he added.

Congressmen visiting here two weeks ago had suggested that Hawaii would now be a state if Alaska's statehood drive had not been made concurrent with Hawaii's.

BRIEF ABOUT TRUMAN

On Harry D. Truman's 1952 political aspirations, Mr. Chapman held to a near silence.

He says he doesn't know if Mr. Truman will run again.

“;If he does I'll campaign for him again,”; the secretary added.

Mr. Chapman, regarded as the president's most valuable political ally, is given a large share of the credit for Mr. Truman's successful 1948 campaign for election.